ELTons finalists 2018

Cambridge Assessment English partners for the ELTons Local Innovation Award

www.cambridgeenglish.org

Cambridge English Language Assessment is part of the University of Cambridge. We develop and produce the most valuable range of qualifications for learners and teachers of English in the world. Over 5 million people in 130 countries take our exams every year. Around the world over 20,000 universities, employers, government ministries and other organisations rely on our exams and qualifications as proof of English language ability. Cambridge English exams are backed by the work of the largest dedicated research team of any English language test provider.

Cambridge English Language Assessment – a not-for-profit organisation 

Finalists

Combined Pre-sessional course –  King’s English Language Centre, King’s College London

The Combined Pre-sessional course at King’s College London is an innovative, blended learning experience, bringing together online and face-to-face teaching.

Created and designed by the expert tutors and developers at the King’s English Language Centre, the Combined Pre-sessional is a full-time course consisting of online lessons made up of high-quality videos, practice exercises, and coursework submission.

Offered in 15, 10 and 6-week long course options, the Combined Pre-sessional course develops students’ Academic English, language and study skills, supporting them to progress to their chosen degree at King’s College London.

Students' online study is complemented by regular real-time interaction with tutors and peers through web conferencing software. On arrival in London, students build on what they’ve learned by continuing to face-to-face classes with the King’s English Language Centre in London.

Students receive ongoing support throughout to achieve their academic potential and build their confidence while settling into life in London.

The journey to success starts at King’s.

Brick by Brick - StandFor /  FTD Educação

Brick by Brick is a new course for Primary learners who are part of this ever-changing, technological world. The series invites students to become architects of their own learning process, through varied, fun and engaging activities that offer opportunities for hands-on work while using the English language.

EAL Assessment Framework for Schools - The Bell Foundation with Prof. Constant Leung, King’s College London; Dr. Michael Evans and Dr. Yongcan Liu, Cambridge University (Cambridge University Technical Services Limited)

The EAL Assessment Framework for Schools provides teachers with an academically robust, curriculum-based, easy-to-use framework for assessing pupils with English as an Additional Language. It enables teachers within primary and secondary settings to effectively report English language proficiency of EAL learners to the DfE and gives practical strategies on how best to support and track progression.

“I've worked in the EAL sector for many years and provide information, advice and guidance to schools. The Framework is the most comprehensive assessment tool so far produced and it needs to be shared with schools.”

“Staff needed more support in assessing children and the DfE broad descriptors of English proficiency were not sufficient to ensure progression was planned for. Staff love the fact that each stage of proficiency was then split up into speaking listening reading and writing and this ensured that provision was closely matched to the needs of the child.”

Find out more about EAL Assessment Framework for Schools 

EAP for Syrian Academics project - Cara (Council for at-risk academics) with ELTC, The University of Sheffield; ISLI, The University of Reading; and Centre for Open Learning, Edinburgh University

The EAP for Syrian Academics Project is an innovative programme to provide online EAP (English for Academic Purposes) language lessons and online material support for Syrian academics exiled in towns and villages across Turkey. Each academic is paired with an experienced EAP tutor to receive weekly online lessons using web conferencing software. The goal of the programme is to enhance their employability, keep them engaged in current academic practice provide them with the confidence to engage with the wider academic communities in their field. Along with the online lessons, they are also given access to a website where self-study materials and social contact with their peers and tutors are available. This is very important given the isolation that some of them experience in their new circumstances.

Find out more about EAP for Syrian Academics project

Family Skills Toolkit - Learning Unlimited Ltd

Family Skills* is a free downloadable toolkit containing detailed guidance, session plans and resources for a 30-hour course which aims to improve the literacy of pupils with EAL in primary Reception classes by working with the whole family. It is designed for use by ESOL/Family Learning tutors working in primary schools with parents/carers who are speakers of other languages (ESOL) and their children.

Session content includes: benefits of bilingualism; home literacy practices; oral traditions; reading strategies; phonics; learning through play; primary education.

Family Skills aims to support parents/carers to:

• develop their own literacy and language skills
• learn more about phonics and how children are taught to read in schools
• feel more confident about supporting their children’s learning and literacy at school and at home with fun activities
• get more involved at their child’s primary school.

* the Family Skills project was funded by EEF, Bell Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy.

Find out more about Family Skills Toolkit 

Imagine! - Silva Education Ltd.

Imagine! is a short course for children from low income communities in Brazil to have access to high quality learning materials that are relevant to their everyday reality. Created specifically for use in informal education with disadvantaged children aged around 8 to 12 years old, the flexibility of the teaching approach and mixture of L1 and English means that is manageable for both children and volunteer teachers. It is visually impactful and features course characters that provide a positive role model for end users.

Essential English - Oxford University Press

Essential English is a language learning service, available completely free of charge through the Free Basics by Facebook platform. For communities without affordable data connections Free Basics provides free mobile internet access. By utilising this platform, Essential English provides high quality learning resources to users who have been unable to access Oxford materials previously. Currently containing a phrasebook and covering a range of topics, Essential English features and content will be expanded based on feedback from users, allowing it to match their needs exactly.

Find out more about Essential English 

Learn Languages with Ruby Rei – Wibbu

Ruby Rei is a language-learning adventure game. To be used in classrooms, students join Ruby as she crash-lands on a forgotten planet at the edge of the universe. Embarking on an education epic to save her friends and return home, Ruby must negotiate, collaborate, empathise, and build relationships.

Based on the proven technique of incidental learning, the game engages and energises students with a cliffhanger-laden story, loveable characters, beautiful visuals, engaging voice acting, and exciting gameplay.

“This is absolutely amazing! We've tried so many other products and I found that the kids ended up banging their heads on the table because it just wasn't interactive enough. But with Ruby Rei, my students can really enjoy learning a language. It doesn't feel like work for them. It feels like fun for them. And that's what learning a language should be - fun.” RACHEL W, Middle School ELL Teacher, Florida, USA

Find out more about Learn Languages with Ruby Rei 

RoyalABC - Prosper Education Pty Ltd

RoyalABC is a global education provider for the early childhood learning sector that connects teachers and students to a dynamic language learning ecosystem of English language, 21st Century skills and Growth Mindset education. Using our purpose designed intuitive teacher platform, teachers can simply manage their lesson planning, broadcast content, schedule homework, report to parents, complete admin and comprehensively deliver the RoyalABC curriculum to children aged 4 - 6. RoyalABC’s Teacher Dashboard simplifies lesson planning and delivery and gives teachers the time to connect with their students in the classroom. The at home learning app allows parents and children to celebrate the learning journey together in an immersive 3D world of challenge based play that reinforces the language and phonics from the classroom.

Find out more about RoyalABC 

Study Legal English - Study Legal English

Study Legal English provides the world’s first legal English podcast, combining existing and new technologies with functionality and ease of use, making it an innovator in the ESL for specific purposes sector. The free podcasts can be accessed from the website and all major podcast apps. Podcast Pro Members can access further online learning materials including synchronised transcripts, the ‘speak module’ and vocabulary lists. Gamified quizzes make learning fun and allow Podcast Pro Members to earn badges and certificates.

The podcast has a listenership of around 2000 per month in over 91 countries and features in the Best Legal English Podcast list by Player.FM.

Founder & Producer Louise Kulbicki, previously recognised as an innovator by the Carnegie Council for her international environmental law work is now combining her creativity with her legal and English teaching experience to help lawyers around the world improve their legal English.

Find out more about Study Legal English

Tri Pro English Website & Mobile Apps - Tri Pro English

Tri Pro English is a project which grew from teachers responding directly to the learning needs of their students by creating free, high quality web-based resources. Soon, the resources were being used by students and teachers all over Spain, and the team developed affordable, five star rated listening apps to further support their users. The format is purposely simple: audio and drop down menus, allow students to check that they understand first the questions they are being asked, they can then check and read both the text and the answers.

Praise for Tri Pro English apps:

“In my opinion it’s the best application I’ve found to practice listening” Natalia Rodriguez Gonzalo

“It’s a perfect app for practicing listening of different levels” Christina Rodriguez

“Thank you truly for the app, from a fail in the listening to a pass in this sitting of the exam” Francis Ruiz

Find out more about Tri Pro English

Digital Tools for Teachers - Trainers' Edition - PeacheyPublications.com

The Trainers' Edition of Digital Tools for Teachers has been designed with aspirational teachers in mind. The aim of the book is to enable these teachers to make the transition from teaching to training other teachers how to use technology in the language classroom.

The book does this by providing a range of training tips and step-by-step activities and training tools that they can use to build pre-service or in-service training courses or one-off training sessions.

Using this book any teacher with a reasonable level of technology confidence and a good level of classroom teaching experience can lead the development of other teachers and establish themselves as a competent trainer.

Find out more about Digital Tools for Teachers

Interaction Online - Cambridge University Press

Interaction Online is a resource book for language teachers wishing to incorporate online interaction, between and among learners and instructors, into their teaching.

The book contains a clear rationale, guidelines for setting up and managing online interaction, and over 75 practical activities.

Interactions are purposeful and are divided into five categories of interaction: personal, factual, critical, creative and fanciful. The majority of activities can be carried out either synchronously or asynchronously, and contain additional suggestions for adaptation.

Activities require minimal preparation, all have a clear learning focus and are suitable for learners at a range of levels.

Find out more about Interaction Online 

PronPack 1-4 - Mark Hancock

PronPack is a set of four teacher resource books with an accompanying website. Each book takes a different approach to teaching English pronunciation, from workouts to puzzles, pairworks and poems. The books are very clear and attractive in design and are available as print books or ebooks. They contain printable worksheets plus teacher’s notes. The website contains downloadable audio files as well as image files of the worksheets, sound charts and slides for presenting the pronunciation points. The PronPack approach is innovative in its emphasis on increased intelligibility as the objective, and its flexible, non-prescriptive attitude to accent.

Find out more about PronPack 1-4 

Supporting Learners with Dyslexia in the ELT Classroom - Oxford University Press

Supporting Learners with Dyslexia in the ELT Classroom outlines a methodological framework of reference for how English language teachers can provide appropriate support to learners with dyslexia.

It provides teachers with the necessary theoretical basis, but crucially links this to a multitude of activities and practical tools which are specific to the ELT classroom.

These activities and tools are based on a rigorous analysis of current trends in foreign language research which, over the past 30 years, have increasingly attempted to address to topic of how to ‘reach and teach’ language students with the learning difference of dyslexia.

Find out more about Supporting Learners with Dyslexia in the ELT Classroom

Teaching Grammar: from Rules to Reasons - Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd

Teaching Grammar: From Rules to Reasons is a book which outlines an alternative approach to teaching grammar. It explores what speakers and writers really do with grammar, and demonstrates how language students can be guided to discover what they mean. The book contains lesson materials and procedures, introduces an innovative discovery technique, and suggests communicative activities that can be incorporated into lessons or courses. In short, this book aims to help teachers to develop their knowledge of grammar, provide a source of materials and offer new ways of planning and organizing lessons.

Find out more about Teaching Grammar: from Rules to Reasons

Teaching Lexically - Delta Publishing

Teaching Lexically shows what a lexical view of language looks like, and explores how it differs from a more traditional ‘grammar + words’ view. It then considers what implications such a view might have for classroom practice.

At the heart of Teaching Lexically are three main ideas:

• Grammar and vocabulary are both taught better in combination
• Context is absolutely central.
• Classrooms need to be input-rich; and input needs to be useful.

Find out more about Teaching Lexically

Interactive Phonemic Chart - The Service Communications Cooperative Ltd with Morley College London

This is a free online visual aid: an imaginative, interactive, colour-coded phonemic experience with 44 audio and films constructed to engage and inspire learners in the classroom, or in their own time via phone, tablet or computer. The cleverly edited films visually demonstrate explanations; text on screen and quirky conversations illustrate sounds in context to consolidate learning. Actors in the films are from northern and middle areas of England. They show pronunciation is a motor skill, so unlock the secrets of exactly how to achieve each sound. Whatever accent a learner may have, this tool aims to raise awareness, encourage practice and develop confidence in pronouncing English.

Learning English: English for Health and Social Care Workers - Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd

English for Health and Social Care Workers is a ten-unit course book which provides learners with an excellent working knowledge of medical terms, different medications and equipment, colloquial terms used by service users and policies and procedures used in the care environment as well as improving their spoken communication, vocabulary, grammar and report writing skills. It corresponds to the B1 level of the CEFR and can be used in the classroom or for independent study. Audio and answers are provided online.

Find out more about Learning English: English for Health and Social Care Workers

LearnMatch - VE Vision Education GmbH

LearnMatch - A highly motivational free mobile language learning application. It is a technically advanced vocabulary trainer for English and 5 more languages. Its unique LiveMatch-feature lets everyone compete in fun vocabulary matches with friends, family or any member of the LearnMatch-Community releasing unseen positive emotions and social involvement. Furthermore, it offers a powerful personalised dictionary, plug-in and translation technology tool allowing an outstanding relevance and personalisation for all English language learners, independent from their knowledge-level. Learning almost happens automatically when embedded in a playful and emotional context.

Find out more about LearnMatch

Tim's Pronunciation Workshop - BBC Learning English

A series of 30 short, entertaining online videos, Tim's Pronunciation Workshop helps English learners of all nationalities to improve their pronunciation by highlighting and raising awareness of features of connected speech. Each episode explores a specific feature of pronunciation, such as elision, assimilation, weak forms and more. Tim explains these via a range of digital techniques including slow-motion, text-on-screen, native speaker vox-pops - and Tim's twin brother, 'Tom', puts in an occasional appearance! Practice opportunities are provided via text-supported native speaker models and we end on a visual summary. Further practice and extension opportunities are available as interactive online activities.

Find out more about Tim's Pronunciation Workshop

Wordable - Playlingo Ltd. with Cambridge University Press

For many learners, vocabulary learning is a grind. There are thousands of words and it’s easy to forget words as you learn new ones. Wordable is a new mobile game designed to tackle this motivation problem in a fun quiz-style game where learners compete with friends to see who is the fastest to learn new English words.

Wordable combines social gaming’s motivational power with serious learning that blends Cambridge Dictionary content, a word memorisation technology and research-proven ELT techniques such as high frequency words, bilingual/L2 practice, spaced repetition and active recall learning. The goal ¬– to make vocabulary learning fun, social and effective.

Find out more about Wordable

Doodle Town - Macmillan Education

Doodle Town is a captivating 4-level pre-primary course designed to stimulate the imagination of young learners and inspire learning through a range of visual, audio and hands-on activities. This one-of-a-kind course goes beyond teaching language and helps to develop every aspect of children’s learning. By engaging their imagination and promoting intellectual and physical development, Doodle Town gives young learners the tools to succeed both now and in their future education.

Find out more about Doodle Town 

Fast Track 5 (Third Edition) - EF Education First Limited

Fast Track 5 is the first in a new series of course books for younger learners aged 14-17 on short immersion EFL courses. The course comprises a student’s book, teacher’s book and website bringing authentic video and audio content plus interactive group activities into the classroom. The course syllabus includes 21st Century Skills and works to empower students to find their voice and participate in the world around them. Fast Track 5 is the pilot C1-level of a course that follows levels A1-C1 of the CEFR. Differentiation through the teacher’s book offers teachers support tailoring lessons to different proficiency levels.

Find out more about Fast Track 

Get Set, Go! Phonics - Oxford University Press

Get Set, Go! Phonics takes a new approach to developing pre-school children’s phonological awareness and phonics knowledge. Important phonics skills are systematically acquired using the ‘Oxford 5 Steps towards Successful Phonics Learning’, developed specifically for the series. This approach helps children learn progressively—starting from counting syllables in Level 1, learning to identify onsets and rhymes at Level 2, and acquiring blending and segmenting skills at Level 3. Stories, chants, songs and games are used to build phonics skills, while nurturing learners’ confidence in skills essential for English language learning. The series also fully supports home learning.

Find out more about Get Set, Go! Phonics

Orbit – RICHMOND

Orbit is a five-level ELT series for primary school students that aims both at teaching English and developing learners’ cognitive and socioemotional competences. The series presents topics and questions that stimulate students’ curiosity, engage them in the stories and activities proposed and promote creative thinking, empathy, cooperation, resilience, openness to experience, self-confidence etc.

Its engaging plot centers around a ferret and children embarking on adventures that take place in multicultural environments. It adds to the series objective by encouraging students to actively participate in the process of searching for answers in a global society, thus helping them become active global citizens.

Perspectives - National Geographic Learning

Perspectives is a four-level series that teaches learners to think critically and to develop the language skills they need to find their own voice in English. The carefully-guided language lessons, real-world stories, and TED Talks motivate learners to think creatively and communicate effectively. In Perspectives, learners develop an open mind, a critical eye and a clear voice in English.

Find out more about Perspectives

Wider World – Pearson with The British Broadcasting Corporation

A global, 4-level secondary course for teenagers produced in partnership with Pearson and the BBC. Print components are mixed with a rich multimedia package that includes authentic, BBC Culture Videos and Vox Pops videos, selected and produced specially to motivate teenage learners.

The course provides authentic exposure to language and communications skills, through an interactive approach to learning and provides reliable language development. Wider World equips learners with the skills and confidence to participate as educated citizens in the global community of the 21st Century.

Find out more about Wider World